The yen (FXY) continues its slide , falling to a new four-and-a-half year low against the dollar, helping the Nikkei (NKY) post another triple-digit gain on the session, rising 1.2% to 14782, its highest level since January 2008. The weak yen comes on the heels of the G7's reportedly amicable meeting over the weekend, at which officials were generally supportive of the BOJ's policies and reiterated that Japan's goal is to fight deflation not engage in the targeting of exchange rates. [View news story]
Everyone's goal is to "fight deflation". Everybody gonna print to the moon. Because the big problem with the world economy is totally that the world's banks don't have enough money to speculate with in financial assets and not lend out. If you just give them some more maybe someday they will lend some out, creating debt and helping "fight deflation". Maybe. But first they gotta play rehypothecate the bonds and buy stocks. The market can't possibly crash, so it's ok for them to all use huge leverage for more profits. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Buffett and Munger (BRK.B) on Europe: Buffett would happily buy a big business there "tomorrow" because "Europe is not going away" and in his opinion they will fix the flaws in their monetary system. "They have to find a structure that will work and eventually they will," Buffett says. Munger: "Letting Greece into the EU was like using rat poison for whipping cream: an exceptionally stupid idea." (WSJ) [View news story]
All AMZN has to do to report amazing earnings growth is start selling short positions and put options on their own stock. Then they will have billions of extra earnings every quarter. They can use leverage too; Goldman-Sachs can lend them the money!
Alcoa (AA -1.8%) plans to review 460K metric tons of capacity over the next 15 months for potential curtailment, ~11% of global capacity, in a bid to compete in a market where aluminum prices have plunged more than 33% since peaking in 2011. Alcoa already has 13% of its smelting capacity idle; just weeks ago, it reported solid demand in its auto and aerospace end markets. [View news story]
Well Alcoa certainly doesn't think that the macro demand outlook is any too rosy.
What Happens When Liquidity Disappears? [View article]
If you are correct, Joseph, the winner here will be whichever bank puts on massive short positions and then dumps their longs into the market. The only question is when and if one of the big institutions will dare to do that.
A Call On A Market Top And Why Gold Is Imploding [View article]
It's not unreasonable to expect gold and equities to fall together, as they certainly have risen together.
Well, it'll go to cash first, and then into things that aren't collapsing. It's also not unreasonable to expect the market to correct to the downside of fair value (even if corporate earnings tank again). Of course, when the typical dividend yield is back up around 10% will be a great time to buy.
If the fundamentals can trump the Fed's wishes. That is the question. Of course, the Fed could put a price floor under stocks at any level, or make stocks rise to any level it desired simply by printing more and more money and even buying equities. The question is whether or not they will engage in that sort of economy-distorting behavior. It could certainly be argued that it is unfair and gives an unfair competitive advantage to public companies versus private firms.
"I'm very confident about the medium- and longer-term prospects of the Cypriot economy," says Harris Georgiades, Cyprus' new finance minister, who adds that the country has "some traditional industries, tourism and shipping amongst them." Despite downbeat commentary from the likes of Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian and harsh words from Mario Draghi regarding the country's gold sales, Georgiades says Cyprus "will remain a member of the eurozone. "That is our destiny," he says. [View news story]
having shipping as an industry isn't such a great thing now.
There's trouble brewing again in sovereign bailout land as Portugal's Constitutional Court strikes down austerity measures in a binding decision that is expected to create a gap of €860M in the country's budget. The move could put Portugal's international bailout package in jeopardy although some economists believe a workaround is possible, according to WSJ. [View news story]
Paulo posted about this on his instablog before anything went down.
Property developers tumble 7.6% in early trade in China after Beijing continues with pledges to clamp down on what appears to be a reawakening of the country's real estate froth. The Shanghai Composite -1.8%. TAO +22.9% Y/Y. [View news story]
The Probable Origin Of The Anadarko Singularity [View article]
Japan GDP Q1: +3.5% (annualized) vs. 2.7% expected. [View news story]
The yen (FXY) continues its slide , falling to a new four-and-a-half year low against the dollar, helping the Nikkei (NKY) post another triple-digit gain on the session, rising 1.2% to 14782, its highest level since January 2008. The weak yen comes on the heels of the G7's reportedly amicable meeting over the weekend, at which officials were generally supportive of the BOJ's policies and reiterated that Japan's goal is to fight deflation not engage in the targeting of exchange rates. [View news story]
Buffett and Munger (BRK.B) on Europe: Buffett would happily buy a big business there "tomorrow" because "Europe is not going away" and in his opinion they will fix the flaws in their monetary system. "They have to find a structure that will work and eventually they will," Buffett says. Munger: "Letting Greece into the EU was like using rat poison for whipping cream: an exceptionally stupid idea." (WSJ) [View news story]
Amazon Has A Moat Without A Castle [View article]
The Systemic Plight Of Labor [View article]
Alcoa (AA -1.8%) plans to review 460K metric tons of capacity over the next 15 months for potential curtailment, ~11% of global capacity, in a bid to compete in a market where aluminum prices have plunged more than 33% since peaking in 2011. Alcoa already has 13% of its smelting capacity idle; just weeks ago, it reported solid demand in its auto and aerospace end markets. [View news story]
What Happens When Liquidity Disappears? [View article]
A Call On A Market Top And Why Gold Is Imploding [View article]
A Call On A Market Top And Why Gold Is Imploding [View article]
Well, it'll go to cash first, and then into things that aren't collapsing. It's also not unreasonable to expect the market to correct to the downside of fair value (even if corporate earnings tank again). Of course, when the typical dividend yield is back up around 10% will be a great time to buy.
If the fundamentals can trump the Fed's wishes. That is the question. Of course, the Fed could put a price floor under stocks at any level, or make stocks rise to any level it desired simply by printing more and more money and even buying equities. The question is whether or not they will engage in that sort of economy-distorting behavior. It could certainly be argued that it is unfair and gives an unfair competitive advantage to public companies versus private firms.
"I'm very confident about the medium- and longer-term prospects of the Cypriot economy," says Harris Georgiades, Cyprus' new finance minister, who adds that the country has "some traditional industries, tourism and shipping amongst them." Despite downbeat commentary from the likes of Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian and harsh words from Mario Draghi regarding the country's gold sales, Georgiades says Cyprus "will remain a member of the eurozone. "That is our destiny," he says. [View news story]
There's trouble brewing again in sovereign bailout land as Portugal's Constitutional Court strikes down austerity measures in a binding decision that is expected to create a gap of €860M in the country's budget. The move could put Portugal's international bailout package in jeopardy although some economists believe a workaround is possible, according to WSJ. [View news story]
Feb. Retail Sales: +1.1% vs. +0.5% expected, +0.2% prior (revised). Ex-auto +1.0% vs +0.6% expected, +0.4% prior (revised). [View news story]
Because that's where things are going to go as soon as the market loses confidence in the Fed or the Fed stops printing.
Coal Is Dead [View article]
Property developers tumble 7.6% in early trade in China after Beijing continues with pledges to clamp down on what appears to be a reawakening of the country's real estate froth. The Shanghai Composite -1.8%. TAO +22.9% Y/Y. [View news story]